My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hot Shot® Insecticides.This is the face of a kid who hates bees and wasps. Several summers ago, the kids were playing in the street in front of our house with my husband. Suddenly, I heard a blood curdling scream all the way from where I was inside. I went running outside to find my sweet, precious baby hysterical. A bee had stung the palm of his hand. What kind of jerk would sting my baby?! My husband and I spent the next five minutes fighting over the best way to remove a stinger from his hand. I was right. Duh. And we spent the next hour trying to calm him down and convincing him that he was going to have to go back outside again at some point. It was touch and go for a while. Every time any kind of flying bug flew past, his post traumatic stress kicked in and we had quite the scene on our hands. We moved to a new house a year ago and the bush that we have to pass every day, to and from the car, is a wasp magnet. I really feel like it caused my son a fair share of anxiety. No one wants to feel afraid to leave their house. And no one wants to feel afraid to come home.

The truth is, I’m not fond of bees either. I’ve been known to cause quite the scene myself. My favorite place to be when it is warm outside is “mom oasis’. And being that we live in California, it is warm pretty consistently. My husband and I dream of a day when we can build our dream loggia. Some people dream of their dream house. We dream of our dream patio set up. Until then, “mom oasis” is my little retreat to read magazines and find some quiet time. Until the bees start to get all up on the plants that surround “mom oasis” on two sides… Nothing rips you out of your relaxed state faster than something buzzing your head, am I right?

Although I know that bees, wasps and hornets all have their place in our world, I just don’t need them cohabitating with me. For some reason our house is prime real estate for wasp nests. If we don’t take care of them right away, they end up in the kitchen. And if I can’t take care of them in the kitchen, they end up in the rest of the house and my boys and I have to leave until Dad can come home and save the day. The wasps that live in this area seem to be a little bit magical. I can’t figure out how they get in to the kitchen. They do not come in when we are going in and out of the back door. The sliding glass door is always closed and there are no other openings, that we can see, for them to enter through. These wiley little bugs should be hired by the CIA. It is not cool. We have to take care of the nests immediately when we spot them or they come a’calling in the house. We keep Hot Shot® Wasp and Hornet Killer in a cupboard in the garage so we always know where it is.

My poor husband gets the job of killing the nests. We’re never sure how that will go. Will it anger a whole tribe of wasps and they will want some sort of retaliation against my family? All I know is they seem to case my house. When I am sitting at the dining table, I often see a wasp fly up to the sliding door and literally fly around the frame, as if looking to see how he can enter and steal my soul. I’ve seen them do it at the kitchen door also. So we risk my husband’s life (not really, he’s really smart and would never endanger himself) to ensure that we can live in our house without looking over our shoulder for flying fiends. I am so grateful for products from Hot Shot® Insecticides. They are effective in providing solutions for us to keep insects out of our home and giving us a little piece of mind. There was a time when I used glass cleaner with ammonia to kill ant infestations. Someone in my family, who shall remain nameless, – my husband – thought insecticides were full of too many chemicals and didn’t want them in our home. But glass cleaner just didn’t do the trick, so I turned to the Hot Shot® solutions. I kind of consider them part of the family. Funny how my husband never tried the glass cleaner on the wasp nests…

My hiding spot is “mom oasis.” Do you have a hiding place? Hot Shot® Insecticides is holding a fun Facebook contest right now. They want to see where you hide to get a minute to yourself or where your kids hide when they want a quite moment to read. Take a photo and upload it to Facebook for a chance to win a weekly prize. Or you could win the Grand Prize and go hide somewhere much more glamorous!

Looking for something?

Instagram

Currently Obsessed With…

Turn on your JavaScript to view content

Archives

Archives

I use affiliate links throughout this blog. I will never talk about or promote anything that I don't love or doesn't fit what I think you guys would want or need. Affiliate sales and sponsored work supports Cupcakes and Cutlery and allows me to create new content for you.
You can read my full disclosure policy here.

My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com